Power over smoke or power over water?:

Hi I'm just deciding which ability to give to one of my characters and I'm stuck between these two. But I figured I might be able to decide if I think of enough uses for them.

For example smoke can blind an opponent and would be more powerful in an enclosed room where it can suffocate the opponent. I also think smoke would have more of an advantage over fire. Because fire can't burn smoke. So if the smoke user can control the smoke, they can form it into a barrier to block the fire out completely. Plus fire creates more smoke for the smoke user to control.

I don't know enough about the power over water yet. But I got a feeling it could be just as useful as smoke somehow. Maybe I'm not thinking hard enough though. So any ideas?

Well, just think out what aspect of smoke nad water they're able to influence. Once you pick the mechanism for how the power is manifested, the rest shoudl fall into place real quick.

For example: Let's say that your character has influence on water molecules due to the angle between the two hydrogen atoms. As water freezes, that angle changes (why ice floats). So, your character can only manipulate liquid and gaseous water molecules, but not solid water. Thus, they would be able to draw pure water out of a body of naturally-ocurring water, and choose to leave impurities behind or just pick up the body of water as-is.

As you can manipulate the water, you might be anble to change the eneergy state, thus heating or cooling it - until you freeze it, and then it falls out of your control.

I'd think the most terrifying ability of water would be to drown someone by filling their lungs with fluid.

No wait, boiling all the blood in their veins. No wait, pulling all the water out so their blood simultaneously turns solid. No wait, cutting off blood flow (because blood is mostly water) to different parts of the body for a little while at a time, so they essentially rot away. The disturbing possibilities are endless!

Then again, true power over real, actual smoke (which is in fact made of carbon), you could basically deconstruct any living organism we have here on earth (since I believe they're all carbon-based). And by deconstruct, I mean pull apart or reassemble atom by atom.

If these both seem too overpowered, don't worry-you can either limit yourself to non-technical definitions of water and smoke, so it's just the things you'd normally think of, or you can limit their powers in other ways.

Look, you can't make me speak in a logical, coherent, intelligent bananna.

I don't think you really need to worry about what in the smoke they're controlling. Just because you can manipulate the mixture of carbon dioxide and carbon dust particles doesn't mean you suddenly have command over every living carbon-based life form on the planet. Just say that they can generate and control smoke, and only smoke. Why? A Wizard Did It, and the magic demands the products of combustion, and won't listen to "But there's carbon in this, why can't I control it?"

I've seen several series that have used power over water, but I haven't seen any where someone's main power was power over smoke - I know that's not what you're asking, but I think it's something to consider.

Water can be used to cut things if your character can shoot a small stream of it fast enough.

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